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History · Butler Township

28% of Butler Township’s homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Lincoln Highway-Gardiner Station. Below: maps from 1896 on.

2on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Butler Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Butler Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18963 editions of the USGS map, 1896 to 1985. Watch Butler Township change.Old housesHalf of Butler Township’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Butler Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Butler Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Butler Township on the map, 1896 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Butler Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Butler Township on the 1896 USGS mapButler Township on the 1958 USGS mapButler Township on the 1985 USGS map1896Stromsburg sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Butler Township.

The story so far

Butler Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Butler Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Butler Township is one of eighteen townships in Platte County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 614 at the 2020 census. A 2021 estimate placed the township's population at 609. The Village of Duncan lies within the Township. Butler Township was established in about 1867.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 604 to 639 (+6%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Butler Township, 1884 to 1896

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884Post officeThe Gardner Station post office opens
  3. 1887Post officeThe Gardner Station post office closes
  4. 1896On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the National Register

2 historic places in Butler Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2007
Lincoln Highway-Gardiner Station
Lincoln Highway-Gardiner Station
Structures
All 1 listings
Lincoln Highway-Gardiner StationStructure · listed 2007

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Butler Township

Nobody well known was born in Butler Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Lucas CruikshankAmerican actor · b. 1993
Jim PillenGovernor of Nebraska since 2023 · b. 1955
B
Brad William HenkeAmerican actor and football player · b. 1966
John ArcherAmerican actor · b. 1915
J
John R. DunningAmerican physicist · b. 1907
Ray KegerisAmerican swimmer · b. 1901
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Another post office, Gardner Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Gardiner
1cemetery inside Butler Township
Jackson

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Columbus Township1 historic placeCDuncan1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSilver Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOconee TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Butler Township’s history

What is on the National Register in Butler Township?

2 listings: 1 structure.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.